“Everything in my life, I had to take it. They’re not going to give it to you out of sympathy. I wouldn’t want it any other way … if I wanted to win the MVP, I had to go take it. I felt that this was the year I did that … (To his teammate Nick Collison) You knew I had potential. Every single day, I knew I could look at you and know that you respect me as a man, as a player, and that you would ride with me till the end. Thank you.”